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Coffee drink cost calculator.
Add what you pay for beans, milk, syrups, and cups, then build the drink: espresso by the gram, milk by the ounce, syrup by the ml, plus the cup and lid. See your cost per drink, food cost %, margin, and a suggested menu price.
1 Ingredients you buy
What you pay, and how much comes in the package.
2 Your recipe
Pick ingredients from above and enter how much the recipe uses.
How to cost a coffee drink
Every part of a drink is bought in one unit and poured in another. Beans come by the pound but you dose in grams; milk comes by the gallon but you steam ounces; syrup comes by the bottle but you pour pumps. Work out each component's cost per unit, multiply by what one drink uses, and add the cup and lid. The calculator does the conversions; for syrup, enter the ml your pumps add up to.
- Espresso
- Bean price per lb ÷ 453.6 g × grams per drink
- Milk
- Price per gallon ÷ 128 fl oz × ounces per drink
- Syrup
- Bottle price ÷ bottle ml × (pumps × ml per pump)
- Cup, lid, sleeve
- Case price ÷ units per case
- Drink cost %
- Cost per drink ÷ menu price × 100
- Suggested price
- Cost per drink ÷ target drink cost %
What drink cost % should a coffee shop target?
Coffee shops often aim for a drink cost of roughly 20–30% on espresso drinks, which is a 70–80% gross margin. Milk is usually the biggest single cost in a latte, so switching to oat or almond milk can move a drink's cost more than anything else. Add your alternative milk as its own ingredient to see what an upcharge needs to cover. Costing food too? Use the recipe cost calculator.
Don't forget the cup
A hot cup and lid can add 10–20¢ to every drink, and sleeves, straws, and cold-cup domes add more. That's real cost on every ticket, so it belongs in your drink cost. Add them as ingredients priced from the case you buy, counted each.
Built by a coffee shop owner
RecipeMate is built by the owner of an independent coffee shop. In the full app, house syrups and cold foam are costed as their own batch recipes, and when your roaster or dairy raises prices, every drink that uses them updates from the invoice.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to make a latte?
It depends on your bean, milk, and cup prices. For example, with beans at $14/lb, whole milk at $4.50 a gallon, vanilla syrup at $11 per 750 ml, and about 15¢ for a cup and lid, a 16 oz vanilla latte (18 g espresso, 12 fl oz milk, 22.5 ml syrup) costs about $1.46 to make. Enter your own prices to see yours.
How many ml does a syrup pump dispense?
Most syrup pumps dispense about ¼ to ⅓ fl oz (7.5–10 ml) per full pump, but it varies by pump. To check yours, pump ten times into a measuring cup and divide by ten. Then enter the syrup a drink uses in ml or fl oz (pumps × ml per pump).
How many grams of coffee are in a double shot?
Many shops dose around 18 g for a double, and most fall somewhere between 16 and 21 g. Use your own recipe's dose in grams for the espresso line.
Should cups and lids count in drink cost?
Yes. Cups, lids, sleeves, and straws are a cost on every drink you sell, and leaving them out makes your margins look better than they are.
Is this calculator free? Is my drink saved?
It's free and needs no sign-up. The math runs in your browser, and the calculator doesn't save or upload anything. To save every recipe and keep costs updated from your supplier invoices, become a RecipeMate founding member.
Keep every recipe costed, not just this one.
RecipeMate reads your supplier invoices and updates the cost of every recipe on your menu when prices change.
Become a founding member